Smiley Face Behavior System

I have used more behavior systems than I can count. Some successful. some not so much. I’ve been looking for one that works well for the younger children.

Many of you have most likely seen the Red light, Green light system used in many kindergarten classes. I have always loved this system, but I never felt like it was something I wanted to use. (not sure why) Well, a good friend of mine has begun using a similar system with her two year old.

Here is what her system looks like.



Here is how she uses it. She uses blue for calm/cool/everything is great... orange for getting hot/disobeying, and red is timeout! When her little one does something that he knows he is not supposed to, he goes to orange right away. She gives two warnings after that, and then he goes to red. After a timeout he goes back to blue. Some people I think do this: if the child is on orange but then does something really good, they put him/her back to blue, but she just leaves it on orange until he does another bad thing. She expects a certain level of good behavior. Most days he never goes to red so it's great!!!!

I can’t wait to start using this system with my younger boys. I think that the visual cues are a great idea. I think that when I use it I will give them something to work towards, like a prize from our prize bag. I will also give it a time limit, like before nap, and after nap. I suppose they could get up to two prizes a day, and I’m ok with that. I will continue to use time out as a consequence, but with the added consequence of the loss of a prize.